IMAX film has something as rare as a dinosaur: a sense of humor

South America has given us the bossa nova, Che Guevara and, it turns out, big monsters that rip each other's faces off.

"Dinosaurs 3-D: Giants of Patagonia," a bang-up film playing at the IMAX theater at the Minnesota Zoo, combines science with Hollywood pizazz. As in most large-format films, our tour guide is a scientist, genial paleontologist Rodolfo Coria. With an affecting mix of awe and reverence, Coria drives his Jeep around Argentina, pointing out dinosaur fossils and footprints and telling us, "All life has become meaningful to me."

The most meaningful parts of "Patagonia" for dinophiles will be the computer-generated segments that bring to life species we didn't see in "Jurassic Park." The use of 3-D is effective (especially when a giant bird flies right at us, twice), and the encounters between various predators and their prey are thrilling.

Rare among large-format movies, "Patagonia" even has a sense of humor, nicely underplayed by narrator Donald Sutherland. As we watch two creatures battle, Sutherland mentions that one of them had feathers and wings. And then, as the feathered giant falls over the cliff, he adds drolly, "But didn't fly."

What: "Dinosaurs 3-D: Giants of Patagonia"

Directed by: Mark Farfard

Rated: Not rated, but parents should heed the warning that it contains "very large, very loud dinosaurs"